Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

James Matthew Stronge (21 June 1932 – 21 January 1981) was a soldier and

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

MP in the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

, and the later

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = S ...

. He was the son and heir of Sir Norman Stronge, Bt; they were both killed by the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

at his family home,

Tynan Abbey Tynan Abbey in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a large neo-gothic-romantic country house built c. 1750 (later renovated c. 1815) and situated outside the village of Tynan. It was home to the Stronge family until 1981, when it was set on ...

Life and career

Born into an aristocratic family, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

. In 1967, he was appointed

High Sheriff of Armagh The High Sheriff of Armagh is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Armagh. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his/her ...

. He served as

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Mid Armagh for three years until the prorogation of Stormont in 1972 and a member of the

Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973 The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists an ...

-1974. Stronge was also an officer in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. Having withdrawn from political and military life, his main interests since were confined to

merchant banking A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commo ...

and service as a RUC Reserve Constable.

Death

Stronge was killed alongside his elderly father Norman, by the

in the library of his home,

, on the evening of 21 January 1981. The Stronge family's home was then burnt to the ground. The bodies of father and son were later recovered from their blazing home. On seeing the explosions at the house (and a

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...

Norman had lit in an attempt to alert the authorities),

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Roya ...

(RUC ) personnel arrived at the scene and established a road block at the gate lodge. They encountered at least eight fleeing gunmen in two vehicles that rammed the checkpoint. The gunmen got off the cars and scattered. There followed a gunfight lasting 20 minutes in which at least 200 shots were fired before the attackers faded away. There were no casualties among the security forces. Author Tim Pat Coogan stated that Norman Stronge and his son were shot because sectarian assassinations were claiming the lives of Catholics, but did not state that they were involved in these killings. As Stronge was shot alongside his father, and it is not known who was shot first, he is presumed to have momentarily succeeded as 9th Baronet under the

legal fiction A legal fiction is a fact assumed or created by courts, which is then used in order to help reach a decision or to apply a legal rule. The concept is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions, particularly in England and Wales. Deve ...

known as the doctrine of survival. Son and father were buried in

Tynan Tynan (PlaceNamesNI - Tynan
) is a Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gove ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

and handed over to the RUC on a warrant accusing him of involvement in the killing of James and his father. The

Irish Supreme Court , image = Coat of arms of Ireland.svg , imagesize = 120px , alt = , caption = Coat of Arms of Ireland , image2 = Four Courts, Dublin 2014-09-13.jpg , imagesize2 = , alt2 ...

considering his extradition to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

rejected the defence that these were political offences saying that they were "so brutal, cowardly and callous that it would be a distortion of language if they were to be accorded the status of a political offence". The charges were later dropped against Shannon.

Memorial

James Stronge is remembered with a tablet in the assembly chamber in the Parliament Buildings at Stormont. He is also listed on the National Police Memorial Roll Of Honour.National Police Memorial Roll of Honour for Ireland
Police Memorial Trust website. Accessed 27 February 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stronge, James 1932 births 1981 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Assassinated politicians from Northern Ireland Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Grenadier Guards officers High Sheriffs of Armagh Male murder victims Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 British police officers People educated at Eton College People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army People murdered in Northern Ireland Royal Ulster Constabulary officers Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Assassinated police officers Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Armagh constituencies 1981 murders in the United Kingdom

Life and career

Death

Memorial

See also

References